Zelenskiy at donors' conference: Ukraine's membership in the EU must be an absolute reality

"Because this Russian war against Ukraine was planned as a prelude to a hit on a united Europe. More unification is a powerful response. And that is why Ukraine's membership in the European Union must be an absolute reality," Zelenskiy said.

Zelenskiy added that the rebuilding of Ukraine should be a historic example and investments from other countries will mean that millions of Ukrainians who were forced to leave by the war will be able to return home.

"We offer our partners, civilized and responsible countries, to take patronage over those regions, over those cities and over those sectors of Ukraine which have been affected by the war launched by Russia. To take the patronage to ensure with us the full rebuilding of these regions, our cities and towns, and sectors," Zelenskiy added.

"After ten weeks of full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, our meeting in such a format, with such a purpose, conveys that Ukraine, Europe, and the whole free world are on the way to victory, to a common victory," Ukraine's president stressed.

"Ukraine's armed forces and all our heroic defenders are bravely and firmly defending freedom on the battlefield. But the outcome of this brutal war is not only decided on the battlefield, but also in the field of economics, finance and humanitarian support," he added.

The conference, aimed at helping Ukraine deal with the economic and humanitarian fallout of Russia's invasion, was hosted by Poland and Sweden, in cooperation with the Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council.

Poland's Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Thursday's donors' conference raised around 6.5 billion dollars to help Ukraine.

Countries such as Finland, the Czech Republic, Croatia and others pledged millions of euros to support humanitarian and military efforts in Ukraine as part of the conference.